


my heart has chosen you (please choose me, too)

by spiritcrimson



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Amusement Parks, Beaches and rain, Fake/Pretend Relationship, First Dates, Fluff, It's all romantic and stuff, Keith is smooth af and Lance is a bi disaster, M/M, Mutual Pining, Pining Lance (Voltron), because I'm incapable of writing anything but fluff apparently?, because I'm weak af, but it's mostly just fluff fluff and more fluff, cliches, double dates, so many goddamn cliches and tropes in here, there's like little angst here because Lance is an overthinker
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-26
Updated: 2018-04-26
Packaged: 2019-04-28 07:28:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 16,509
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14444376
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spiritcrimson/pseuds/spiritcrimson
Summary: “I meant, you and Keith should join us. Make it a double date!”And. Oh. Oh fuck no. It’s one thing for Lance to have lied about his non-existent romantic relationship with Keith, which was a mess he was going to have to clean up somehow, but quite another to fake said relationship in front of Hunk and Allura, both incredibly perceptive. Lance had only lied because he didn’t think he’d actually have to pretend to be dating Keith, because he’d figured he’d make up some bullshit excuse later, like they broke up or something, and no one would be the wiser. But this? This complicates things.Or,Lance just wants to be a good friend, but that apparently includes having to pretend to date Keith, and let's just say, things kinda spiral from there.





	my heart has chosen you (please choose me, too)

**Author's Note:**

> So, fake dating. I love fake dating fics. There's a distinct lack of fake dating fics for this ship. I decided to fix that in my own, little way. Also, this fic was supposed to be 8k words at most, and somehow ended up being twice as many words, and I'm not sure what exactly happened there? Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy this.
> 
> Inspired by laallomri, the title is from a hindi song, titled, Suno Na, from the movie, Jhankar Beats. That song is pining Lance af, and this is primarily pining Lance, so yeah.

The thing about being best friends with Hunk for as long as he has, is that Lance can tell when Hunk’s anxious. Not an impressive feat, to be sure, considering Hunk’s always anxious about something, but the difference between other people picking up on Hunk’s anxiety, and Lance is that Lance can tell, even if Hunk doesn’t tell him, just what Hunk’s anxious about.

 

Like right now. They’re sitting at their regular booth at their regular café, and while Lance isn’t necessarily complaining about the drink Hunk bought him, Lance also knows that there’s a reason for it. Hunk’s anxiety is linked to _Lance,_ which means whatever it is Hunk intends to say to Lance, he thinks Lance is going to react negatively to it. Which, well, Lance likes to think he’s a better, more approachable best friend than that.

 

“Hunk,” he says, leaning forward in his seat. “What’s wrong?”

 

Hunk, who’d been fidgeting in his seat for all this time, eyes darting all over the place, finally looks at Lance, but his fidgeting continues.

 

Lance raises a questioning brow at him. “You gonna tell me why you brought me here or….?”

 

“I mean, we always hang here, nothing unusual about that, Lance!” Hunk says, voice pitched higher than usual. “Don’t need a reason to hang with my best friend and buy him his favorite drink at the café he loves so much!”

 

“Hunk.” Emphasized by a pointed look. “It’s eight-thirty in the morning on a Sunday.”

 

Hunk sighs, dropping his forehead onto the table. “You’re mad at me. I knew it! You’re gonna be even madder at me if I say it now. This wasn’t how I’d planned it out, I wanted you to be in a good mood and—,”

 

“Hunk,” Lance cuts his nervous rambling off, tone gentle, “Buddy, I’m always in a good mood when I’m with you. And I’m not gonna get mad, whatever it is. You can never make me mad.”

 

“I can,” Hunk groans, lifting his head and meeting Lance’s eyes. “I’m a terrible best friend! You should stop being friends with me. I mean, you should, but if you did, I’d probably cry, because I love you so much and I never want to lose you and I want us to be best friends forever! I can’t lose you, Lance!”

 

Okay, Lance is concerned now. He can’t possibly imagine what’s gotten his best friend in such an anxious state. But, “Hunk, you’re not gonna lose me, buddy. We’re bros for life. It’s in the bro code.” He grins, hoping that will calm his friend down some. To his horror, Hunk just looks like he wants to cry.

 

“Bro code!” Hunk cries, burying his face in his hands. “Oh god, I’m totally breaking the bro code right now! Oh god, oh god, I’m a terrible best friend! Oh god!”

 

“Hunk,” Lance tries for patience, he _really_ does, but he can’t help the sharp tone of his voice, because Hunk isn’t making any sense right now and Lance _has_ to know. “Please stop stressing and tell me what’s wrong. I can help!”

 

Lance sees Hunk mentally brace himself, dropping his hands from his face, before he says, “I have a crush on someone and I think, I _think_ they might like me back, too.”

 

Lance stares at Hunk, waiting for an explanation. Hunk stares back nervously, refusing to utter another word. Lance waits for a good few seconds before saying, “Right, so what’s the problem here? Why will that make me mad?” A part of Lance is starting to get nervous, however, because what if...what if Hunk’s crush is…

 

No. He can’t jump to conclusions just yet. Benefit of doubt and all that. Besides, even if it is, Lance will deal. He’ll deal with it.

 

“Right,” Hunk says, taking a deep breath, before continuing, “It’s uh, because, well, IhaveacrushonAllura.”

 

Lance blinks. “What? I didn’t catch that.”

 

“Because,” Hunk repeats, “I have a crush on Allura.”

 

Oh. _Oh._ That explains _a lot._ Okay so fine, maybe a teeny, _tiny_ part of Lance _is_ upset, but a bigger part of him is just relieved. Relieved, because Lance was worried Hunk was gonna name someone else. Someone with a mullet. Someone Lance likes _way more_ than he’s ever liked anyone. So yeah, Lance is _definitely relieved_ that Hunk doesn’t have a crush on Keith. It’s just Allura, and Lance is so fucking relieved.

 

“Buddy,” Lance says, grinning, “ _That’s_ what you’ve been stressing about?”

 

Hunk stares at him in disbelief. “I mean, obviously? You like Allura too, man!”

 

“I _liked_ Allura, emphasis on the past tense,” Lance says, shaking his head. “I don’t like her anymore, which means you should totally ask her out because I’m positive she’ll say yes!”

 

“Dude, no!” Hunk argues, looking almost panicked. “I’m going against bro code here! The bro code clearly states friends shouldn’t go after friends’ exes and siblings!”

 

“Hunk, Allura isn’t my ex. Allura isn’t my anything. I just had a crush on her, but I’m over it, and I _really_ don’t mind you going out with her,” Lance answers patiently. “If anything, I’m glad two of my closest friends are going to date. It’s exciting!”

 

Hunk still doesn’t look convinced. “Lance, I know _you._ You’re not going to tell me even if you _are_ upset. You’re probably secretly really heartbroken right now, but you’re not going to tell me, because you’re such a good friend but I can’t do this to you, I really can’t!”

 

“Hunk, I’m over Allura! I’ve been over her for months now!” Lance says incredulously, flinging his arms out to the side for emphasis.

 

“How?! You were head over heels for her, man! Remember that time you thought Keith and Allura were secretly dating? You didn’t leave your room for three days and you didn’t talk to Keith for a week! I can’t deal with that man!”

 

“That was different!” Lance exclaims. “That was totally different, Hunk!”

 

“How?” Hunk asks, and Jesus Christ, how the fuck can Lance convince Hunk that he’s totally, 100% okay with Hunk dating Allura, that the Keith and Allura thing was different because it wasn’t about Allura, but about _Keith_ , and Lance was upset because Keith wasn’t single anymore, and that whole episode literally had _nothing_ to do with Allura or his feelings for Allura?

 

“Hunk, buddy, listen. I do not have a crush on Allura, and no, I’m not lying for your sake. I seriously mean it,” Lance says, hoping Hunk will believe him. He makes sure to look extra sincere, just in case.

 

Hunk just narrows his eyes suspiciously. “I don’t believe you. I know you, Lance. You’ll lie to me about your feelings just so you won’t hurt mine. I just, you know what, I’m not gonna pursue anything with Allura. For all I know, she doesn’t even like me like that. It’s no big deal. I’ll get over it.”

 

“Hunk,” Lance groans exasperatedly. “What’s it gonna take for me to convince you that I do not mind you dating Allura?”

 

Hunk shrugs, calmer than he was before. “Nothing, honestly. I mean, it’s one thing if you were already dating someone else, but you’re not, and I just. I can’t.”

 

Wait. If he was already dating someone else….?

 

Oh, this is a terrible, _terrible_ idea.

 

“Hunk,” Lance begins slowly, steeling himself for what he’s about to do, “What if I told you I...I _am_  dating someone else? Would that convince you?”

 

Hunk stares at Lance. “ _Are_ you dating someone else?”

 

Lance averts his gaze from Hunk’s all-knowing one. It won’t take a lot for Hunk to see right through Lance, and Lance really needs Hunk to believe him, because Hunk deserves happiness, and what’s a little white lie, honestly? “Well...yeah. Yeah, I am.”

 

Hunk’s eyes widen in disbelief. “Who?”

 

Lance rubs the back of his neck awkwardly. Okay, this is it. He’s doing this. Oh man, he’s totally going to regret this. “Keith.”

 

“WHAT!?” Hunk exclaims, standing up abruptly. A bunch of people turn to look at them, and Hunk smiles apologetically at them and sits back down, and through it all, Lance just buries his own face in his hands and groans because what the _fuck_ has he done? “What?” Hunk asks again, softer this time, but no less shocked.

 

“I, uh, Keith and I are...you know…” Lance answers, awkwardly moving his hands away from his face, “We’re...dating?”

 

“Since when?!” Hunk’s eyes are as wide as saucers right now. “When did this even happen? How long have you been keeping this a secret from me? I thought you’d tell me, Lance!” Hunk looks hurt now.

 

Shit, Lance didn’t think this through. “It’s not been that long, I promise! Just a week, maybe? We, uh, we kept it a secret from everyone, because...well, we didn’t know how you guys would react to it.”

 

“Wow,” Hunk says in awe, “You and Keith, huh? I mean, I always suspected you had a thing for him, but I didn’t think you’d realize it so soon. I... _wow._ ”

 

Lance laughs nervously because, well, if only Hunk knew. Lance has known for _months_ now, and yet hasn’t managed to ask Keith out.

 

Fuck, he’s going to be having one heck of a conversation with Keith, isn’t he?

 

“So….” Hunk begins, suddenly sheepish. “That means it really is okay for me to ask Allura out, right?”

 

Jesus fucking Christ. “Yes, Hunk, it is! In fact, you need to ask her out right now. Text her, call her, whatever! Just do it, my man!”

 

“Okay!” Hunk finally says, his anxiety easing up. “Okay, yeah, I’m gonna text her. Right now. I’m gonna do it!”

 

“That’s my man!” Lance hypes up, excited grin and all. He sees Hunk pulling his phone out, unlocking it and about ready to text Allura. But then he freezes, dread setting in again. Lance already knows what he’s gonna say before he—

 

“Lance, I can’t do this! What if she says no? I can’t make a fool of myself like that! I mean, have you _seen_ Allura? And have you seen _me_? She’s so out of my league, oh my go –-”

 

Yup. That. “Hunk,” Lance cuts him off, in a split-second leaning forward and snatching the phone from Hunk’s hand before he even has time to process it’s happening. Lance has always had fast reflexes. It’s one of his many talents. He quickly unlocks the phone (Hunk has his pass-code, it’s only fair he has Hunk’s), and opens up Allura’s contact, ready to send a message.

 

“Lance, what are you—” Hunk catches on a second too late, before—

 

**Hunk:**

_(8:45): Hello, Allura!_

_(8:45): Fine morning we’re having here, aren’t we?_

 

“Lance, what did you _do_ , oh my god, oh my god, OH MY GOD!”

 

“Relax, Hunk, I’m helping you out a little bit.”

 

“Lance, don’t do that!” The genuine, rising panic in Hunk’s voice stops Lance from sending his next message. He looks up at Hunk with a concerned expression. Hunk looks miserable.

 

Lance slowly sets the phone down on the table, raising both his hands in the air, backing away slightly. “I didn’t ask her a thing, dude. I’m an ass, but I wouldn’t ask her out for you. I was just gonna get a conversation started, because I know you struggle with that when you’re anxious.” He gestures at the phone laying screen up on the table, the messaging app still on display. “Look, I didn’t say anything, I promise!”

 

Hunk leans over and glances at the screen, then visibly relaxes. He’s about to reach for the phone, when it vibrates. A response from Allura.

 

**Allura:**

_(8:50): Lance, I know that’s you._

_(8:50): Why are you texting from Hunk’s phone?_

 

Hunk and Lance stare at each other. Lance just mouths an incredulous _“How?!”_ while Hunk lets out a surprised laugh. He grabs the phone and begins typing into it.

 

“Dude, how did she know that’s me?” Lance asks, still incredulous. Hunk doesn’t respond, now slightly blushing at his phone. Lance narrows his eyes, leaning forward curiously. “Why are you blushing? Did you ask her out?”

 

Hunk looks up at that, vehemently shaking his head. “No, not yet. I don’t think I can do it over text!”

 

Lance raises a disbelieving brow at him. “You mean to say you can ask her out in person?”

 

Hunk looks torn, because Lance _knows_ Hunk’s going to chicken out the moment he comes face to face with Allura. Lance knows they’ve become pretty good friends over a short amount of time, ever since Hunk started helping Allura with her volunteer work, but that’s different. There’s an easy platonic chemistry there, and Hunk knows how to be natural when it’s just friendship. But put romance into the picture? And he doesn’t have any idea how to navigate those waters.

 

Lance, however, is an expert in all things romance (barring the whole…Keith situation, but that’s _totally different_ ), and so he leans forward, looks Hunk dead in the eye, and says, “Ask her out. Look, there’s no reason to wait. You like her, don’t you?” Hunk nods. “Then just ask her, dude! You gotta take chances in life, jump on that train while it’s still at the station! Like, what’s the worst that can happen? She says no? You’ll bounce back, dude! Although, to be very frank, Allura isn’t going to say no to you, so you’ve got nothing to worry about!”

 

“You know what? You’re right!” Hunk says, confidence building back up. “I mean, if you could ask Keith out, and he’s your boyfriend now, and god knows I thought you’d never do it, then I can totally ask Allura out!”  

 

Lance lets out a fake, enthusiastic “yeah!” at that, because, if only Hunk knew. If only. Lance is gonna be so fucking dead. He watches as Hunk starts typing into his phone, a steady back and forth of texts, his face going from nervous to hopeful to nervous again to hopeful once more until—

 

“She said yes!” Hunk exclaims in bewilderment. He’s staring wide eyed at his phone as he repeats, softer, “She said yes to the date, Lance!”

 

Lance has to physically stop himself from getting up and doing a happy dance right then and there, because fuck yeah, Hunk’s got a date with Allura! Instead, he settles for grinning brightly and exclaiming, “I knew she would! Buddy, you’ve got a date with the most beautiful girl ever!”

 

Hunk smiles at that, nodding excitedly before his smile abruptly drops. Oh no, Lance knows that look. Hunk’s starting to panic again. But Jesus, the hardest part is over, why is Hunk panicking?

 

“She said yes!” Hunk repeats, but it’s less excited and more anxiety-ridden now. “Lance, I have a date with _Allura!_ ”

 

“Yeah buddy, I know,” Lance answers, somewhat confused. “That’s a good thing. Right?”

 

“Buddy,” Hunk emphasizes, “I have no idea what to _do!_ I don’t know the first thing about dating!”

 

Lance laughs, waving Hunk’s concerns off. “Don’t worry, I’ve got you. You’re speaking to the love expert here, Hunk.”

 

Hunk’s eyes widen, an idea forming, but Lance is too busy continuing with, “I’ll make a list of things you should and shouldn’t do, say and shouldn’t say and—” before Hunk cuts in with, “You should come with us!”

 

Lance halts mid-sentence and stares at Hunk uncomprehendingly. “Excuse me?” He asks.

 

“You heard me,” Hunk says, words holding barely contained excitement, as though he isn’t asking Lance to effectively third-wheel his first date with Allura. “Come with us!”

 

Lance blinks. And blinks more.

 

“Well?” Hunk asks, still just as enthusiastic.

 

“Hunk,” Lance says slowly, looking his best friend dead in the eyes, “I love you. You know I love you, right?”

 

Hunk nods impatiently, gesturing for Lance to continue.

 

“I love you, but I am _not_ third-wheeling your first date with Allura!” Lance says incredulously.

 

“Third wheeling?” Hunk repeats, confused now. And then it dawns on him, and then he quickly shakes his head and says, “No, no, no, I’m not asking you to third-wheel!”

 

“Uh,” Lance says, confused, “That’s exactly what you just said.”

 

“No, I didn’t!” Hunk protests, and before Lance can open his mouth to argue _that,_ Hunk quickly adds, “I meant, you _and Keith_ should join us. Make it a double date!”

 

And. _Oh_. Oh _fuck no_. It’s one thing for Lance to have lied about his non-existent romantic relationship with Keith, which was a mess he was going to have to clean up somehow, but quite another to fake said relationship in front of Hunk and Allura, both _incredibly_ perceptive. Lance had only lied because he didn’t think he’d actually have to pretend to be dating Keith, because he’d figured he’d make up some bullshit excuse later, like they broke up or something, and no one would be the wiser. But this? This complicates things.

 

“Hunk,” Lance reasons, trying not to panic, “You really don’t want Keith and I to join you guys. It’ll spell disaster.”

 

“No, dude, if anything, your presence will help,” Hunk says, looking at Lance pleadingly, “You and Keith together can make everything less awkward for me.”

 

“Hunk—,”

 

“And,” Hunk interrupts, “If I start to fumble, you can help me out! You can make sure I don’t ruin my date!”

 

“But Hunk—,”

 

“And,” Hunk adds, cutting Lance off again, and something tells Lance he’s going to end up giving in before Hunk can even say, “I feel calmer in your presence, dude. Please do this for me? I like Allura a lot, man!”

 

Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck. “Okay,” Lance sighs, shoulders sagging in defeat. If he thought he’d be having an awkward conversation with Keith before, this is just going to be ten times as awkward now. “I’ll, uh, I’ll talk to Keith.”

 

-x-

 

“You told him _what?_ ” Keith asks incredulously, eyes wide in disbelief.

 

Lance winces, shrinking in on himself a bit. He’s already failing miserably at this. “Look,” he tries, “I had no choice!”

 

Keith stares at Lance. “You had no choice,” he repeats.

 

Lance nods, eyeing Keith’s reaction carefully. They’re currently chilling in Keith’s little studio apartment. Lance sits on Keith’s bed, while Keith sits on a chair opposite him, mugs of coffee in both of their hands. They hadn’t always been close enough to chill at one another’s apartments, to be sure, but somewhere in between their dumb rivalry, and Keith befriending Hunk, Pidge and Allura, they’d ended up in the same friend group, and somehow connected, bonded.

 

Lance had realized Keith and he had a lot more in common than he’d first thought, how sometimes they both felt like outsiders, how they both just wanted to fit in, but where Lance ended up pushing his way into spaces, Keith lingered on the outside, waiting for someone to pull him in. And turns out, Lance was the one to pull Keith in, and fully integrate him into the little circle of friends.

 

After that, it had been a matter of Lance realizing that, where he once wanted to beat Keith’s ass at everything, he now wanted Keith to succeed. He was happy when Keith was happy, and somehow, Keith’s accomplishments started feeling like his own. Their relationship took a drastic turn after that. Lance realized, real soon, that while Hunk was still his best friend, there were things Lance couldn’t open up to Hunk about, but with Keith, it almost felt natural to do so. Keith always listened without judgment, comforted Lance in his own strange way. Lance could be vulnerable with Keith in a way he never could have been with Hunk, or anyone else. Lance could be himself, vulnerabilities and all, with Keith.

 

And that went the other way, too. Lance became someone Keith could trust. Where Keith had been once closed off, almost hard to read, Lance had realized it was a defense mechanism. He’d come to learn that Keith had had a rough childhood, and he’d lost a lot of people in his life, and he was terrified of having it happen to him again. But Lance had assured him that he was a stubborn asshole, and no matter what, he wasn’t letting go of Keith that easy. He’d only fuck off if Keith told him to.

 

And Keith never did, and here they were. Over a year later, in their sophomore year of college, best-friends who hung out at one another’s apartments and shared their fears with one another. And maybe, just maybe, would pretend to date each other to help their mutual friend out. Maybe. It’s still up in the air.

 

“Lance,” Keith says, “What the fuck?”

 

Lance tries to give Keith his best puppy dog look as he responds with, “You know I had to do it to him, Keith!”

 

Keith and Lance stare at each other. Lance’s expression doesn’t falter. Keith blinks. A beat. Keith bursts out laughing, which immediately sets Lance off, and then they’re both laughing like this is the funniest fucking thing they’ve ever heard, when really, Lance is a dumbass who’ll quote memes literally whenever.

 

“Lance,” Keith manages, sobering up some, “Seriously though, why the fuck did you tell Hunk that we’re _dating?_ ”

 

Lance stops laughing too, looking vaguely offended and hurt as he exclaims, “What’s so wrong with dating me, Keith?”

 

“That’s—what, no, that’s not what I—,” Keith sputters, eyes widening in horror, trying to make Lance understand, but words inevitably failing him. He sees Lance’s mouth twitch, and scowls. “You ass!”

 

Lance laughs again, leaning forward. The smile lingers on his lips when he says, “I’m sorry, I know I should’ve asked you before I said something, but I really didn’t have a choice, Keith!”

 

Keith sighs, setting his coffee mug on the ground. “So, what exactly happened?”

 

“Short version is that Hunk has a thing for Allura, and Allura has a thing for Hunk, but Hunk didn’t wanna ask Allura out because he thought _I_ still had a thing for Allura, which sure, yeah, I did, back in Freshman year, but I don’t anymore, but Hunk wouldn’t believe me, and Hunk’s a great guy, right, and he deserves love and happiness and Allura and Hunk would be perfect for each other, but that wouldn’t happen if Hunk didn’t ask Allura out, which he didn’t want to, because we’ve established that he thinks I still have a thing for Allura, and he’d be going against bro code, and I had to figure out some way of reassuring him that I don’t have a thing for Allura, and so I told him I’m already dating someone, and when he asked me who, I panicked and your name popped into my head, and so. Here we are,” Lance says it all in one breath, and once he’s finished, he lets out a big exhale.

 

Keith remains silent, processing. Then: “That was the _short_ version?”

 

“Keith!”

 

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” Keith says, waving his hands placatingly. “It’s just, a lot to process.” Lance can respect that. Keith looks like he’s piecing everything together in his head, and then says, “So, where does the whole double date thing fall into this story of yours?”

 

“Right,” Lance says, “Hunk can’t handle going on a date alone with Allura. Says he’d get too nervous, and he wanted me around. I told him I wouldn’t third wheel, and well.”

 

“He told you to bring me, Keith, your… _boyfriend,_ along,” Keith finishes for him, and if Lance notices the change in Keith’s expression when he says the word ‘boyfriend’, he chooses not to comment on it. Instead, he just nods. Keith sighs. “Hunk does deserve this.”

 

Lance nods again. “I don’t want to put pressure on you, though,” he says, tone gentle and understanding. “I can always tell Hunk the truth.”

 

“But then he won’t go out with Allura if you tell him the truth,” Keith points out. “He’ll think you still have a thing for Allura, and you lied to keep his heart.” Beat. “Uh, you don’t actually still have a thing for Allura, do you?”

 

The question catches Lance off-guard, because Keith sounds almost…cautiously hopeful. But that can’t be right. Because that would mean Keith likes Lance back, and let’s be fucking honest. Lance isn’t that lucky. “No, I don’t,” Lance responds. “I’ve been over her for months now.”

 

Keith almost sighs in relief, before catching himself, which Lance thinks is suspicious, but once again, he doesn’t want to read too much into this. “Okay, assuming I say yes to this whole…double date and pretend boyfriend thing, you do realize it wouldn’t be for just one day, right?” Keith asks, eyeing Lance carefully.

 

Now Lance is confused. “What do you mean?”

 

“Lance,” Keith says, exasperated, like Lance is missing the most obvious problem here, which sure, Lance probably is, but also, _rude_ , “We literally hang out with them every single day. We can’t just…pretend to be dating for one day, and then go back to not pretending. We are all in the same friend group, Lance.”

 

Lance is still not seeing the problem here. His face probably reflects his confusion, because then Keith says, “Dude. Come on! These are people we see every day. They think we’re dating. Do the math!”

 

And. Oh. Oh shit. Lance didn’t even—

 

“I didn’t even think about that!”

 

Keith rolls his eyes. “Nope, you really didn’t.”

 

“Uhm,” Lance begins, “We could tell them we…broke up?”

 

“Hunk and Allura won’t let it slide. They’ll try to make us fix it,” Keith says easily. “They can be pretty nosy.”

 

“Made for each other,” Lance mutters under his breath. Then, louder, he says, “Not if we tell them it was mutual, and there was nothing wrong, just that we don’t work together romantically. They’ll have to respect our decision.”

 

Keith considers this. It must be a satisfying response, because he nods. “Okay.”

 

Lance stares at him. “Okay?”

 

Now it’s Keith’s turn to look confused. “Uh, yeah?”

 

“You’re agreeing to be my fake boyfriend just like that?”

 

“Didn’t you want me to?” Keith asks, brows furrowing.

 

“I mean, yeah,” Lance says, and then quickly adds, “For Hunk, of course.”

 

“Yeah,” Keith echoes, shifting uncomfortably on his feet, “For Hunk.”

 

“Right, so,” Lance says, trying to sound nonchalant, not like his crush just agreed to be his boyfriend or anything. Fake. _Fake_ boyfriend. Get a grip, Lance. “I’ll text you the details once Hunk gets back to me?”

 

“Right,” Keith says, and Lance suspects it’s because he doesn’t quite know what else to say. “I’ll…wait for your text?”

 

“Right,” Lance says and mentally slaps himself because what the fuck, he’s usually smoother than this. “Uh, maybe we should establish some rules?”

 

“Rules?”

 

“Yeah, like,” Lance explains, “We have to act like we’re dating, so uh, physical intimacy is kind of part of the package? Now, I’m a pretty touchy guy, so I don’t have a lot of boundaries.” Keith snorts at that, which Lance ignores. “But, I know you’re a reserved guy, and even though we’re close, I wanna know what your boundaries are, so I don’t end up making you uncomfortable.”

 

Keith looks vaguely touched by this, and then softly says, “There’s not a lot you can do to make me uncomfortable.” He seems to realize what he’s said, and Lance is just about to have some sort of mental breakdown before Keith hastily adds, “I mean, uh, I’m comfortable with the way we usually are. Like, hugs and stuff.”

 

“Hand holding?”

 

Keith nods.

 

“What about kissing?”

 

Keith’s face turns an impressive shade of red, and if Lance weren’t similarly panicking on the inside, he’d have made fun of Keith for it. But as it stands, Lance is just as uncomfortable talking about this as Keith is, but he’s just always been better at pretending. “Uh,” Keith manages, somewhat flustered. “Depends on what kind?”

 

“Like, me kissing you on the cheek? Is that okay?” Lance asks and fuck, he wants to die, because Keith slowly nods at that. Lance swallows, and says, “Cool!”

 

They remain sitting there, looking at each other, unsure as to where to go from here. For once in his goddamn life, Lance doesn’t know how to break the awkward tension that’s settled between them. There’s another question he wants to ask Keith, and it’s on the tip of his tongue, but he also doesn’t want to make Keith uncomfortable, and Lance can admit, that one’s a little selfish. For all intents and purposes, they don’t _have_ to kiss on the mouth to really sell their relationship but, God, Lance _wants_ to. Lance wants to kiss him _so bad,_ but he also wants it to be real, and even if he’d take what he got, he doesn’t want to. He doesn’t want to ruin this for Keith, more importantly.

  
“So,” Keith breaks him out of his thoughts, “What now?”

 

Lance considers. There is one thing they could do, just to kill time and get rid of this weird tension between them. “You,” he states, “Are going to teach me how to ride your bike today. It’s time.”

 

Keith rolls his eyes. “Fine.”

 

-x-

 

Hunk texts him the time and place later that night. It’s a simple plan: they’re going to head out to Santa Monica, grab lunch, and then just go with the flow from there. It’s a nice plan. It isn’t super restrictive and allows for wiggle room. Lance already knows he’s going to find a way to make Hunk and Allura spend at least some of their time alone, considering it _is_ their first date.

 

If this were Lance’s first, genuine date with Keith, he already knows what he’d do. Drag Keith to the amusement park, challenge him to the games there, try out all the fun rides and then end their date with a romantic walk along the beach. And oh, maybe have their first kiss by the beach.

 

But this isn’t an actual date, him and Keith _aren’t_ a thing, and Lance doesn’t know if they ever will be. But whatever, he’ll take a fake date in its place. He can still do all of the above with Keith, just, minus the kiss. That’s all. The goal here is to make sure Hunk and Allura have a perfect first date, anyway. This isn’t about him and his failed romantic life.

 

So, heart somewhat heavy, Lance texts Keith the plan. He doesn’t expect Keith to reply, but Keith always does the unexpected, anyway. For instance, the fact that he so easily agreed to being Lance’s fake boyfriend, when Lance was positive he’d just end up hearing a earful from his friend, followed by a big, resounding no. Instead, what he got was a tentative yes. That was unexpected. But nice.

 

**Keith:**

_(22:30): What time do you want me to come pick you up?_

 

 

Wait, what? Why would Keith pick him up?

 

**Lance:**

_(22:31): Dude, you don’t have to pick me up. I’ll Uber there._

 

**Keith:**

_(22:33): Lance._

 

 

And it’s funny how Lance can practically hear the exasperation in the text.

 

**Lance:**

_(22: 34): ??????_

 

**Keith:**

_(22:37): For this being your idea, you sure haven’t put a lot of thought into it, have you?_

 

 

Rude. Lance has done nothing but think about it constantly, thank you very much.

 

 

_(22:38): If we’re dating, why would you arrive separately? It makes sense for me to give you a ride._

 

**Lance:**

_(22:40): Oh! Holy shit, yeah!_

_(22:41): Not bad Kogane, you’re good at this boyfriend thing! I’m impressed._

 

**Keith:**

_(22:43): Shut up, it’s common knowledge._

_(22:44): I’ll be there by 11._

 

**Lance:**

_(22:46): What a charmer!_

_(22:46): Such a loving boyfriend I have! Picks me up and everything!_

 

**Keith:**

_(22:47): I try._

 

 

Hold on a fucking second. Did Keith just…flirt back?

 

**Lance:**

_(22:48): Dude, did you just flirt with me?_

 

 

**Keith:**

_(22:52): I’m just getting into character._

_(22:55): I’m sleeping now. Be ready on time, Lance._

**Lance:**

_(22:56): If we’re doing this, we gotta do this right._

_(22:57): Which means, like any typical boyfriend, I’m gonna have to make you wait at least twenty minutes._

**Keith:**

_(22:58): Goodnight, Lance._

_~_

Lance is actually ready by 9 A.M, because he’s that anxious, and he doesn’t know what to do with himself. It’s so ridiculous, because this is _Keith,_ and Lance is literally so comfortable with Keith usually, so this _shouldn’t_ be any different.

 

But it _is_ , and Lance absolutely hates it. He hates it because he wishes this was _real._ He wishes Keith really was his boyfriend, picking him up from his apartment, and taking him to the beach. He doesn’t want this to be pretend, but Lance is also a coward, which means he’s never going to tell Keith how he really feels, and that means this will _never_ be real.

 

Well, it’s whatever. Lance will move on or take his feelings to the grave. Either or, really.

 

For the next two hours, he simply paces around, tries out multiple outfits before settling on what he’d had on the first time. Blue jeans, his favorite olive jacket, and a NASA t-shirt. It’s nothing fancy, and Keith’s seen him in this attire god knows how many times before, but it’s not like this is a real date, where Lance is trying to impress his real boyfriend or something.

 

He ends up changing into dark jeans, and a white button-up shirt, with the sleeves rolled up. He’s busy inspecting himself in the mirror, running a hand through his hair, when his phone vibrates with a text. He quickly glances over to make sure that yes, it is Keith, right on time, as usual.

 

**Keith:**

_(11:00): I’m here._

_(11:01): Come out!_

 

**Lance:**

_(11:02): Ten minutes :*_

 

**Keith:**

_(11:04): Lance!_

**Lance:**

_(11:05): Alright, alright, I’m coming!_

 

Glancing at himself one last time in the mirror, Lance grabs whatever he needs, and heads out of his apartment.

 

Keith waits on his bike just outside the apartment building, scrolling through his phone while he waits for Lance. Lance doesn’t alert him to his presence yet. Needs a moment to take the sight in.

 

Keith always looks stunning, but it feels like he actually made an effort today, which is absurd, considering this is most certainly _not_ an actual date. They’re _not_ dating. Lance glances down at his own outfit. Well, he’s got no room to talk. But back to Keith, and admiring his stunning form, sitting on that beautiful, red motorcycle of his. He’s still not aware of Lance’s presence, and Lance is perfectly fine with that.

 

In all honestly, Lance could look at Keith all day. And yes, he knows how creepy that actually sounds, but he means it in the _romantic_ way. Keith’s dressed in his red and black flannel shirt, ripped black jeans, his usual combat boots, and topped with a leather jacket. His hair’s all mussed because of the helmet, that hangs, along with a spare helmet, on the handlebars. By all means, it’s not the first time Lance has seen him in this attire, but there’s something about seeing him, waiting for him, _Lance_ , picking him up for what’s essentially a date (fake as it may be), that really sets Lance’s heart racing. He’s suddenly nervous. He suddenly doesn’t know how to interact with Keith. But that’s stupid, because Keith is his best friend and of course Lance knows how to interact with him, but Lance’s stupid, _stupid_ mind has convinced itself this is a real date, and that’s where all of Lance’s nervousness is coming from.

 

Of course, that is the exact moment Keith chooses to look away from his phone, and in Lance’s direction. He revs the engine of his motorcycle, honking once, as a means to catch Lance’s attention. Lance quickly shakes himself off, puts on his game face, and walks over to Keith.

 

“You’re late,” Keith says by way of greeting, handing Lance the spare helmet. Lance easily takes it from him. They’ve done this a lot in the past. The whole Keith giving Lance a ride thing. Not the date thing. _Fake_ date thing. “Hop on. We’re going to run into a lot of traffic.”

 

“That any way to greet your boyfriend, Mullet?” Lance teases, putting his helmet on and settling himself behind Keith, arms coming to loosely wrap around Keith’s waist. “No greeting kiss? Hug?” What? _What?_ _Why_ the _fuck_ is he saying that? Is he _okay?_ What the _fuck?_

 

Keith stiffens in his hold, having been in the process of putting on his own helmet. All of a sudden, he relaxes, setting the helmet between his legs on the seat. He takes hold of one of Lance’s hands, brings it up to his lips and gently brushes his lips against the back of Lance’s palm. Lance can _feel_ the smirk against his skin, because Keith hasn’t dropped his hand yet, when he says, “Like that?” He then drops Lance’s hand and puts his helmet on, not even waiting for Lance’s response, which granted, Lance is kinda dumbstruck at the moment, but he also can’t just let Keith have the upper hand. _He’s_ the flirty one damn it, _not_ Keith.

 

“Um,” Lance manages to squeak out, cringes, clears his throat and continues, “That’s fine, Mullet.”

 

“We’re at mullet again?” Keith asks and even if Lance can’t see it, he can _hear_ the pout in his voice. Cute.

 

“Just drive,” he says, and in a lower, flirtier voice, adds, “ _babe._ ”

 

Keith says nothing to that, but Lance can imagine he’s probably flustered. Good, he’s got the upper hand again. Suddenly feeling slightly less nervous and decidedly more confident, Lance shifts closer and wraps his arms tighter around Keith’s waist just as Keith revs his engine once more, and they’re off.

 

-x-

 

They’re late. Not by much, mind you, but Keith was right, and they did run into some minor traffic on their way. Okay, so they’re like twenty minutes late. Still, Lance can’t feel too bad about it, because this gives Hunk and Allura some time to be alone and get comfortable. And it gives _him_ a little more time to mentally prepare himself. Not that that’s going to help, considering the one giving him grief right now is also the one he’s holding on to, and sitting behind, on his motorcycle, while he looks hot _as fuck_. Lance honestly wishes the ground would open up and swallow him whole.

 

Keith slows down to a stop in front of a pizzeria, because when you’re college students, living on a budget, sometimes pizza is the fanciest date venue you can afford, but hey, Lance loves his pizza, so it’s no big deal. Everyone loves pizza. It’s a win-win. And this pizzeria is fancier than the others, because Hunk doesn’t play around with his food, which means he probably spent hours doing extensive research on yelp, before he settled on this one. Lance trusts Hunk’s judgment. He knows Keith does, too. He’s so busy in his thoughts, that he nearly misses when Keith says, “Go ahead, I’ll join you once I’ve found parking.”

 

And Lance knows exactly what a bitch parking here is, so he says, “Nah, I’ll stay with you until you find parking.”

 

“Lance, that’ll take forever! Go keep Hunk and Allura company, I’ll join you in a bit!” Keith insists, and seriously, what kind of boyfriend nonsense?

 

“Keith,” Lance says slowly, as though he were talking to a child, “I’m staying.”

 

Keith’s shoulders sag in defeat. “Fine,” he relents, “Then you’re paying for parking.”

 

Honestly, Lance was going to do that anyway, and it’s rude that Keith would assume he wouldn’t. Keith gives him no warning before he revs the engine once more and zips onto the street, making Lance yelp and tighten his hold around Keith. When Lance feels Keith chuckle, he suspects Keith did this on purpose. Lance can’t find it in himself to complain.

 

About ten minutes of circling around the area, and they finally find an open spot to park in. They’d damn near given up and had considered using the fancy parking structure instead, paying about fifteen dollars just to park for a couple hours, which is just ridiculous. But lucky for them, they found a spot not too far off from the pizzeria. Lance was prepared to feed the money into the parking meter, but Keith beat him to it, because Keith _sucks_ , and has made it his life’s mission to cause an internal bi crisis in Lance every fucking time he so much as smiles, so it’s whatever.

 

The pizzeria is a five-minute walk from there, and by the time they’re finally at the entrance, they’re nearly thirty-five minutes late. Hunk and Allura are not going to be pleased, that’s for damn sure. Lance is about to stride in, when Keith grabs his arm and pulls him back. Lance raises an eyebrow at Keith in question.

 

Keith looks nervous all of a sudden, as if the full extent of this whole ordeal is just now hitting him. “Uhm,” he says, gesturing vaguely at the door. “Can we really pull this off?”

 

Lance waves the concern away. “I’m a phenomenal actor, Keith! Don’t worry about it!”

 

“Yeah but,” Keith argues, frowning, “I’ve never done this before. Not fake dating. Just like, I’ve never been someone’s boyfriend before? I don’t know what to do! What if I’m not convincing?”

 

“Simple,” Lance says easily, smiling disarmingly, “Just pretend I’m whoever you wish was your boyfriend.”

 

“I—what? That’s not helpful!” Keith sputters. “I don’t want—” but then he cuts himself off, cheeks reddening, which, once again, makes Lance suspicious, but once again, he doesn’t want to assume anything. So, he lets it go.

 

“Let’s just go in. You’ll be fine, Keith. Just be your usual self with me. Besides,” Lance says, and then leans in close to Keith’s ear, “I doubt you’re much different as a boyfriend.”

 

“I don’t know how I am as a boyfriend because I’ve never _been_ one,” Lance hears Keith grumble as he opens the door and strides in, holding the door open for Keith to pass through.

 

Hunk and Allura are sitting at a booth at the far end, side by side. From here, Lance can see that Hunk looks slightly nervous, but Allura looks carefree, and looks like she’s having the time of her life. They’re engaged in conversation, Allura showing Hunk something on her phone, while Hunk listens attentively, stating his thoughts when necessary. They make a cute pair. Belatedly, Lance wonders if him and Keith would look just as cute together. You know, for science. Lance likes to think they’d look incredibly cute together, because Keith and he are attractive individuals, which means together, they’ve gotta look ten times as attractive. And cute.

 

He feels Keith nudging him in the side, meaning he’d been zoning out again, and that’s his cue to keep moving. They make it to the booth and Hunk and Allura finally look up at them. “Oh, you’re finally here,” Allura says by way of greeting, while Hunk just waves and says a quick ‘hey Lance, hey Keith!’. Sometimes, Lance wonders how he ever thought Keith and Allura were a romantic thing, when they so clearly could be related, with how similar they are.

 

“Hello to you too,” Lance grumbles, sliding into the booth. Keith follows after him, maintaining safe distance between them. Lance notices the distinct lack of space between Hunk and Allura, implying a certain level of physical comfort, and they’re on their _first_ date. Meanwhile, Keith and Lance are technically supposed to be dating for over a week now, and anyone who knows Lance knows he’d be a clingy as all hell boyfriend, so it’s at least a _little_ suspicious that Lance isn’t cuddling up to Keith right this instant (never mind the fact that Hunk and Allura haven’t noticed a thing. Lance just wants to play it safe, alright?). If they’ve got to sell this, Lance has to play the part of the affectionate boyfriend, right? _Right._

 

He shoots a sly grin at Keith, staring pointedly at the space between them. “You leaving room for Jesus there, babe?” At that, Keith’s face reddens, and Lance can’t help but coo (internally of course) at how positively adorable Keith looks, all flustered like that. Hunk and Allura watch in amusement as Lance sidles up to Keith, wrapping an arm around his shoulders and pulling him flush against him. Keith sputters at the action but otherwise doesn’t protest. Still, Lance doesn’t want to make him uncomfortable, so he leans down, and whispers quietly into Keith’s ear, “Is this okay?”

 

Keith nods imperceptibly, trying to relax in Lance’s hold.

 

“So, first things first,” Allura begins, “You two are late.”

 

“We ran into traffic,” Keith answers, before Lance can even open his mouth. “Also, Lance delayed us.”

 

“I did not!” Lance exclaims in offense, glaring at his _fake_ boyfriend.  “I was on time!”

 

“No, you weren’t,” Keith argues. “You were almost ten minutes late!”

 

“Okay, that’s a stretch. I was only six minutes late!”

 

“So you admit you were late?” Keith asks, smirking, because he knows he’s won this round. Lance simply huffs and opts not to say anything to that, scowling instead.

 

There’s a brief moment of silence, where Hunk and Allura exchange glances at one another, as though having a silent conversation between them, and Lance is almost worried they’ve already caught on to the lie, but then Allura’s smirking at Hunk, and Hunk just sighs in defeat. Lance doesn’t understand what just happened, so he asks.

 

“It’s just,” Hunk starts, but Allura cuts him off. “Hunk and I had a bet over whether or not you two would keep up with your arguing even though you’re dating now. He thought you wouldn’t, I thought you would. Clearly, I was right.”

 

“I was rooting for you two man,” Hunk complains. “I thought you’d be all cheesy and sappy and lovey-dovey now that you’ve confessed your undying love for one another.”

 

“I don’t even know what to say to that,” Keith says, while Lance sputters out, “I’ll have you know, Keith and I are _extremely_ cheesy and sappy together, thank you very much!”  As if to emphasize his point, he leans over and kisses Keith on the cheek, his heart beating wildly the entire time. “See? We’re cute!”

 

“Lance,” Keith groans, burying his face in his palms, so his voice comes out muffled when he adds, “This isn’t a competition!”

 

But Hunk and Allura are laughing, and Hunk says, “It really wasn’t, but I’m not even surprised he made it one!”

 

Lance feels his cheeks heat up, the consequences of his action hitting him a touch too late. He’d just kissed Keith on the cheek. He’d just done _that._ Sure, Keith said he’d be okay with it, but holy shit, Lance’s lips touched Keith’s skin. The skin on his face. He wanted to die. He doesn’t even know why he’d suddenly gotten so…defensive about, what was, for all intents and purposes, a goddamn joke. Maybe it was a weird insecurity thing? Lance can admit, he’s often been defensive about his relationship with Keith, even if it’s just a friendship. He knows he’s put the rivalry aside a long time ago, and now he truly, deeply cares for Keith, so even the slightest insinuation that he wouldn’t shower Keith with love and affection, should they be dating, feels like a personal offense. If anything, Lance just _wants_ an opportunity to shower Keith with all the love and affection he possibly can, because Keith deserves it, and Lance just wants to be able to give it to him.

 

“Anyway,” Allura says, breaking the silence once more, “While I’m not necessarily surprised that you two got together, I must ask: how and when exactly did this--” She gestures between the two of them, “Happen?”

 

Lance exchanges a subtle, meaningful glance with Keith. Neither of them bothered about coming up with a story. A couple more seconds pass by, during which, Keith excuses himself to go use the restroom, that _fucker_ , thus leaving Lance to tackle the question all on his own. Seriously, that asshole. 

 

Hunk and Allura continue looking at Lance curiously, and Lance takes a few sips of his water to stall for time, and then, bless the universe, the waiter chooses that moment to come interrupt their question.

 

Hunk and Allura give their orders, ordering a pizza to share, which is so disgustingly _cute_ and honestly, how is this their first date, when they’re already so comfortable with one another, like they’ve been dating for a while (which is so unlike how he’s been acting with Keith, and technically _him and Keith_ have been dating _longer_ ).

 

The waiter turns to Lance. He briefly contemplates ordering two separate pizzas, because he likes extra cheese on his pizza, and he knows Keith can barely handle regular cheese in small amounts, so extra cheese is out of the question. But also, he kinda wants to be cute, too, and share a pizza with Keith. So, he orders Keith’s favorite. Regular cheese pizza with pineapple toppings. Lance isn’t the biggest fan of pineapple on pizza, but he’ll do it for Keith, because Keith, for some godforsaken reason, really likes it. (They’d gotten into a debate over it months ago, at which point, they’d both just agreed to disagree. That was one debate they never managed to resolve). Because Keith is his boyfriend. _Fake_ , he reminds himself, _fake boyfriend_.

 

Once the waiter leaves with their orders, and Keith still isn’t back, Hunk and Allura resume their questioning glances on Lance. “So,” Hunk prods, “This was all short notice, so I never got to ask you for details. But I’m dying to know, dude!”

 

“Oh, you know, it just…happened?” Lance says, feigning nonchalance. It’s not like he can’t come up with bullshit stories on the spot, he’s had plenty experience lying to his parents and siblings growing up, but for some reason, Lance doesn’t quite feel like lying. “I asked him out, and he said yes.”

 

“That’s boring,” Allura complains. “It can’t have been that easy. Nothing ever is with you two.”

 

Lance swallows. Where the hell is Keith? He’s supposed to help him out here. Actually, on second thoughts, Keith is a terrible liar, so maybe it’s better he isn’t attempting an answer here. “Why don’t you guys tell me about yourselves first?” Diversion, his age-old tactic!

 

“You were there when it happened,” Allura points out. “Hunk asked me out in front of you, Lance. Besides, Hunk and I never had a history of rivalry between us. We’ve always been rather great friends. We understand each other and have similar interests. Dating just feels like a natural extension of it.” At this, she shoots Hunk a soft smile. Hunk blushes at that, unsure how to respond.

 

“Keith and I are really great friends, too,” Lance grumbles, somewhat offended. “Just because we started out on the wrong foot doesn’t mean we didn’t eventually get it right.”

 

“Oh no,” Allura quickly backtracks, shooting him a concerned look. “That isn’t what I meant, Lance. It’s impressive how much you two have grown together. I suppose it’s just surprising, because it took you a while to even admit Keith was your friend, that’s all.”

 

And well, fair. Lance knows they didn’t mean offense. He’s just suddenly in a little bit of a crappy mood, because this isn’t real. Him and Keith aren’t really together, and it feels wrong to lie about his non-existent romantic relationship, that he clearly wishes _wasn’t_ non-existent, with Keith. He wishes he could tell Keith how he feels for real. So this could be real. “I guess I just decided to take a chance. And it worked out in my favor.”

 

Hunk and Allura smile at him. “I’m glad it did,” Allura says, and Lance suddenly feels like crying. He doesn’t quite know why. “You deserve this, Lance. I believe you and Keith would be really good for each other.”

 

“Ditto,” Hunk says.

 

Keith chooses that moment to return, sliding back onto his seat and snuggling into Lance’s side without a second thought. Lance wraps his arm around Keith’s shoulders almost on instinct, pulling him close. Keith looks at all of them once, trying to discern the soft, empathetic smiles on Hunk and Allura’s faces, and Lance’s somewhat complicated expression. “Uh,” he says, a little awkwardly. “What did I miss?”

 

“Nothing,” Hunk says, grinning “We were just telling Lance how happy we are for you two.” Allura nods in agreement.

 

“Oh,” Keith says, and Lance can’t help but squeeze him just a bit closer. Keith doesn’t seem to mind, instead relaxing in Lance’s hold. “I’m happy, too.” And the sincerity in his words throws Lance off. Why does Keith sound like he means this, that he’s happy he’s dating Lance, when they’re not even really dating?

 

Thankfully, the conversation gets put on hold when their pizzas arrive. Keith takes one look at the pizza Lance ordered for them and shoots him a surprised look. “You don’t like pineapples on pizza,” He points out.

 

“Yeah, but you do,” Lance says, grabbing a slice and biting into it. He tries not to visibly cringe. It’s not terrible, but it’s also not his favorite. He feels Keith staring at him, and quickly turns to him and smirks. “You gonna eat your pizza, or you’re just gonna keep staring at my beautiful face, babe?”

 

Keith looks away at that, grabbing a slice of his own.

 

~

 

They spend about an hour and a half at the pizzeria. Both couples get into somewhat of a brief argument over who gets to pay for their respective meals.

 

“Hunk, I know you’ve been saving up for that computer, so I do not want you to have to pay for us! I’ve got it!”

 

“But Allura, I asked you out!”

 

“Yes, but I accepted!”

 

“But—,”

 

Allura simply puts her card in and holds onto it until the waiter arrives, thus effectively winning the argument.

 

Meanwhile, with Keith and Lance, it isn’t so much an argument, not like Hunk and Allura’s, because here’s the thing. Keith can be sneaky sometimes. Lance thinks nothing of it when he excuses himself to the restroom, clearly expecting Keith to wait on him to split the check, but by the time Lance returns, Keith says he’s already taken care of the check, but he refuses to meet Lance’s eyes. Lance glares at him anyway, swearing that he’ll get Keith back on this. Keith simply shrugs, but there’s a small smile on his face when he says, “Buy me lunch sometime and we’ll call it even.” And then he heads out after Hunk and Allura.

 

And. What? _What?_

 

 _It’s a fake date,_ Lance reminds himself for the hundredth time in the past hour before he follows after Keith.

 

-x-

 

They decide on visiting the Amusement Park next. It’s not a big one, but big enough to host fun games that Lance totally intends on beating Keith at, and there’s fun rides that Lance totally intends on dragging Keith along for. Hunk and Allura seem to be on board for it, too.

 

Once they’re inside, Lance and Hunk briefly break away from Keith and Allura respectively, to have a little private chat amongst themselves. “So, you think you can handle some time alone with Allura now?” Lance asks, gaze flicking between Hunk and Keith. Okay, so maybe he wants to hang out with Keith alone, without Hunk and Allura’s knowing and watchful presence. Maybe he wants to pretend this is real. _No, it’s not real,_ Lance reminds himself.

 

“I think so,” Hunk says, still looking somewhat nervous.

 

Lance gives him an encouraging smile and pat on the shoulder. “Dude, you’ve got this!”

 

Hunk looks at him uncertainly. “You think so?”

 

“She likes you, you like her. And as far as I can tell, this date’s going pretty damn well for you two. But you also need to spend some alone time with her, you know?” Lance says, still smiling.

 

Hunk nods, but then narrows his eyes in mock suspicion. “Are you trying to get rid of us so you can spend some alone time with your boyfriend?”

 

Lance falters because well, Hunk’s not _entirely_ wrong. He decides admitting as much wouldn’t kill him. He _does_ want to spend some time alone with Keith anyway. “You caught me,” Lance laughs, somewhat awkwardly, “I just want to spend some time alone with Keith.”

 

“Dude,” Hunk says, looking somewhat guilty. “I’m so sorry. You know what? You’re right. I can handle being with Allura alone.”

 

“Hey,” Lance says quickly, “Keith and I are more than willing to crash your date, I promise. I was just saying, you know, for _you_. Don’t you want to be alone with Allura?”

 

Hunk nods. “I do.” Then, more confidently, “Yeah, I’ve got this.” He smiles softly at Lance and then gives him a tight hug. “Thanks so much, buddy!”

 

Lance grins, pulling out of the hug. “Go get her, buddy!” Hunk simply laughs at that and then walks up to Allura. Lance watches Hunk say something to her, and then with a bright smile, Allura nods, excuses herself from Keith and walks off with Hunk in the opposite direction. Lance takes a moment to psyche himself up, knowing he’s now well and truly alone with Keith, and then walks up to Keith, casually shoving his hands into his pockets.

 

“Where did they go?” Keith asks him, when he’s close enough.

 

“I encouraged Hunk to spend some alone time with Allura,” Lance replies, shrugging, scanning the amusement park for nothing in particular.

 

“Oh,” Keith says, and if Lance isn’t mistaken, he can hint a little bit of disappointment in his tone. “So, it’s just us then?”

 

And wow, did Keith not want to spend time alone with Lance? Is _that_ why he sounds so disappointed that Hunk and Allura left? “Yeah,” Lance says, feigning indifference, pretending he hasn’t caught on to Keith’s disappointment. “You wanna just, I don’t know, walk around a bit?”

 

“Yeah, sure,” Keith says, nodding.

 

And all the ease and comfort from earlier is gone. Lance is painfully aware of the awkward silence between them, the distance between them. He tries not to let the distance bother him, but he also can’t just pull Keith close to him, considering they’re, well, alone. They don’t have to be putting on a show for Hunk and Allura, and maybe a part of Lance now regrets sending them off on their own, because now he doesn’t get to pretend, doesn’t get to be close to Keith, and that sucks. Lance likes being close to Keith.

 

For a wild second, Lance considers just confessing his feelings to Keith. Right then. Thinks of all the possible outcomes. Keith could feel the same, Keith could turn him down politely, Keith is so disgusted by his feelings he straight up leaves. Okay, no. Keith would never do that to him, but still. It’s not worth the risk. It’s whatever. Lance can deal.

 

They continue walking in silence, but the tension and awkwardness is now starting to fade. Lance keeps glancing at Keith, but each time he does, Keith’s just either looking at his phone, or just admiring the park. Everything’s colorful, and it’s so loud, with kids running around, and there’s lines at each game stall.

 

And then, Lance sees one that makes him do a double take. All awkwardness forgotten, and without really thinking about it, he grabs hold of Keith’s hand and starts tugging him over to the stall. Keith doesn’t budge from his spot, but he does shoot Lance a questioning gaze. “What?” He asks.

 

Lance points at the game stall. “I wanna kick your ass at that!”

 

Keith follows his gaze and smirks. “That one?”

 

Lance nods emphatically, tugging at Keith’s hand once more. Keith glances down at their hands, and Lance almost lets go in embarrassment, but Keith simply tightens his hold and says, “Lead the way.”

 

 

The stall in question belongs to a dart game. The rules are pretty simple. They each get three chances, and they have to throw darts and burst the balloons that are lined up in rows in front of them. There’s a lot of prizes to be won, but Lance and Keith aren’t really paying attention to that. It’s just the thrill of the challenge for them. Lance pays for both their rounds, which Keith isn’t happy about, because he’s somehow made it his mission to pay for literally everything today, and it’s cute, but it also makes Lance fall harder, and so it’s not cute.

 

“You go first,” Lance offers magnanimously, “Because I don’t want you to be intimidated by my impeccable aim!”

 

Keith snorts. “I’ll live.”

 

“Fine,” Lance says, shrugging, smug as fuck. Sure, he wants to show Keith up, wants to win this dumb little competition that means literally nothing, but most importantly, he wants to win Keith something. Wants to impress him. He takes the darts from the stall owner, three, to be precise, and readies himself. Positions himself. Focuses. And throws the first dart.

 

And misses.

 

Shit.

 

He glances at Keith, who isn’t laughing, but looks pretty damn close to it. “Just a warm up,” Lance explains uselessly. “I’ll get the next one.”

 

Keith nods, says, “Of course.”

 

Lance scowls, turns back around to the balloons. He readies the second dart. And throws.

 

And misses again.

 

This time, he does catch Keith smiling. It’s a teasing, playful smile. Somehow, Lance can’t find it in himself to be mad at that. “Another warm up?” Keith asks, biting his lip to stop himself from outright laughing. Lance wishes he wouldn’t. He wants to hear that laugh.

 

“I’ve still got one more shot, Mullet,” Lance says by way of response, and readies his third dart.

 

This time, when he throws, he ends up hitting the balloon in the middle row, making it burst.

 

“Aha!” He exclaims proudly, turning to Keith and grinning. “Take that, Mullet!”

 

Keith just smiles back, and it’s no longer the teasing, playful smile. It’s a genuine one, almost fond. Lance doesn’t know what to make of that. Flustered, he turns back around to the owner, who tells him to pick a prize from the bottom shelf. He’s a little bummed he didn’t get all three, because then he’d be able to choose from the top shelf, with all these big plushies. The bottom shelf ones are cute, but kinda tiny. But still, it’s something he won.

 

He feels an arm wrap around his waist from behind, followed by Keith’s voice, speaking teasingly into his ear, “So, what did you win me, Sharpshooter?”

 

Lance has to summon all the willpower he can to stop himself from visibly shuddering at Keith’s proximity. He randomly points at a toy, not quite paying attention, because Keith still has his arm around his waist, and his chin resting on his shoulder, and honestly _why_ is he doing that, Hunk and Allura aren’t even here, and Jesus Christ, Lance is going to die, because he likes Keith so fucking much and Keith is not making this easy, and—

 

The owner hands Lance a small, purple, hippo plushie. Lance blinks down at it. He nods at the man and then turns around to face Keith, making Keith take a step back and drop his arm from around Lance’s waist. Lance misses the touch almost instantly. He offers Keith the plushie. Keith takes it, smiling.  There’s a beat where they just look at each other. Keith, smiling fondly, Lance, well. Lance doesn’t know what lovesick face he’s making, but he probably should. Stop doing that. Immediately.

 

“Well,” he says loudly, effectively breaking the moment. “Show me what you’ve got, Mullet.”

 

“Stop calling me that,” Keith grumbles, but hands the plushie over to Lance for safe keeping. He then walks up to the owner, collects his darts, and readies himself, then throws them in quick succession. The first one hits the balloon on the top row. The second one gets the one in the middle row. And the third one gets the one in the bottom row. One dart for each row. Keith got all three.

 

Lance stares in shock.

 

Keith looks at him and smirks. Lance just continues staring. Because sure, Lance is upset that Keith technically won their competition and he lost, but also. That was hot _as fuck_. This definitely isn’t helping his whole crush situation right now.

 

While Lance is busy having his whole bi crisis, Keith apparently managed to choose which plushie he wanted, because the next thing Lance knows, Keith is shoving a big shark plushie at him. Lance blinks down at it. “Uh,” he says intelligently.

 

“For you,” Keith clarifies, and Lance already knows that. It’s just that this is all starting to once again feel like a real date, and it’s starting to mess with his head again. No big deal. But still, Lance takes the shark plushie from him, and hands Keith his hippo plushie back. And then without really consciously deciding on it, they start walking ahead.

 

“Just for the record,” Lance says, “If that were a rifle shooting game, I’d have your ass beat.”

 

Keith smirks. “I don’t doubt that for a second.”

 

And well, if _that_ isn’t an ego boost.

 

~

 

After that, Lance and Keith get into the swing of things, playing a multitude of games, turning every game into a friendly competition. Lance ends up finding a rifle shooting game, and he drags Keith over to it, because Keith beat his ass at darts, it’s only fair that Lance gets to beat Keith’s ass at something he’s a pro at.

 

And Lance does win. Keith misses every one of his shots, Lance makes every one of his. Ultimately, Lance ends up giving the toy he won to a little girl with pigtails, with permission from her mother, of course. The girl’s eyes brighten when Lance hands her the teddy bear, and she thanks him happily. Lance feels nothing but warmth at that.  Lance knows Keith’s watching from the sidelines but can’t feel too conscious about it. He loves making kids happy, honestly.

 

“That was sweet,” Keith comments, once Lance bids goodbye to the little girl and her mother and rejoins Keith.

 

Lance shrugs, as though it was no big deal, but despite that, he can’t stop the smile and the rush of warmth he feels at Keith’s words. He likes it when Keith compliments him. God, he’s so _smitten._

 

As they continue making their way through the amusement park, Lance kind of forgets this isn’t a real date. He uses his free arm, the one not holding on to the plushie, and throws it over Keith’s shoulders, as though it’s the most natural thing in the world. And it must be, if the way Keith immediately relaxes into his hold, even shifts closer, is anything to go by.

 

At one point, when Keith complains about being too thirsty, Lance says, “I know babe, I’ve seen the way you look at me,” at which point Keith shoves at Lance, but Lance only pulls him in closer, absentmindedly pressing a kiss to his hair and laughing, and then Keith laughs, until they reach a food stall. There, Lance buys a big bottle of water, and even buys cotton candy for the two of them to share. Except, thanks to the two plushies, that Lance shoves into Keith’s arms for safe keeping, it falls to Lance to have to feed Keith the cotton candy, which Keith, surprisingly, doesn’t complain about, and Lance doesn’t mind doing.

 

Once they’re done with their cotton candy, Keith suggests checking out the rides, and Lance wholeheartedly agrees. There aren't a lot of rides, since the park itself is pretty small and tame, compared to something like Six Flags, maybe, but there’s still some fun rides. They do the roller-coaster first, that provides a spectacular view of the pacific coast, and the gentle spray of the ocean makes Lance feel alive in a way he hasn’t felt before. It’s fun, it’s thrilling, and best of all, Keith’s having just as much fun as him.

 

The next ride they go on is some kind of a spinning ride, but with a little twist to it. Each pair gets to sit in the mouth of a different species of Sharks, and Lance is more than thrilled about this.  Keith is the one who points the ride out to him to begin with.

 

Then there’s a tower ride that essentially makes you feel like you’re in mid-flight, and Keith and Lance don’t need to think twice about trying out this particular ride.

 

They’re just getting done with one of the last rides, and it’s getting close to sun down, when Lance receives a text from Hunk. He pulls his phone out of his pocket, reads over the message, and puts his phone back in. He then looks at Keith, who has a relaxed smile on his face, arms holding onto the two plushies like his life depends on it. It makes for a somewhat ridiculous image, honestly, and Lance almost snorts, because here’s resident bad boy Keith Kogane, clutching a giant shark plushie, and a somewhat smaller hippo plushie, smiling softly, as he takes in the lively atmosphere of the park.

 

Lance has to take a moment to himself. He’s never seen Keith look like this before. Sure, Keith smiles, and he smiles often in Lance’s presence, but there’s a certain, content undertone to his smile that makes Lance’s insides melt, like he’s happy to be here, with Lance. Of course, that’s probably Lance seeing what he wants to see, but still. Keith is beautiful, and he just wants to savor these moments for the rest of his life.

 

Overwhelmed by his feelings, Lance wraps his arm around Keith’s shoulders and gently tugs him close to his side, letting out a soft sigh. Keith, in response, adjusts the plushies in his arms, so it’s resting more against one arm, so his other hand’s free to grab hold of Lance’s dangling from his shoulder, fingers intertwining on instinct.

 

Lance doesn’t know what to think. That’s an intimate gesture, this whole thing right now is intimate. But Lance knows why he did what he did, but why did Keith play along with it? Hunk and Allura are not even—

 

“Lance, Keith, there you are!” Hunk’s voice calls out. Lance jerks out of his thoughts to see Hunk walking towards them, Allura in tow. He glances down at their hands, sees they’re intertwined.

 

And oh. _Oh._ Right, this is all for show. Of course, how could Lance have forgotten? Lance has to give it to him, though. Keith is one dedicated actor. He really should consider acting as a profession. He’d do great.

 

“Hunk, my man!” Lance says, shaking away his self-deprecating thoughts, an easy smile plastered on his face. “You guys have fun?”

 

Hunk nods excitedly, and Allura continues grinning. It’s only then that Lance notices the small plushie she’s holding on to. It’s a white lion plushie. It’s cute. “Nice plushie,” Lance points out, a teasing lilt to his tone.

 

Allura remains unaffected by the teasing as she answers, “Yes, Hunk won it for me!” Hunk blushes, sputtering out a quick, “You helped me!” She waves it away. Her gaze then lands on the two plushies in Keith’s arms. “Nice plushies, Keith. Who won them for who?”

 

Keith fumbles around for a beat, before he says, “We both won each.”

 

“And let me guess, it was a competition?” Allura asks teasingly.

 

“Of course,” Lance scoffs, grinning at Keith playfully. “What’s life without a little healthy competition, right, babe?”

 

Keith grunts in response, but there’s a matching grin on his face.

 

“You’ll never change,” Allura comments goodnaturedly.

 

Lance shrugs and smiles at that, but maybe, just maybe, Allura’s words are hitting him a bit too close to home. Tugging on insecurities he’s always harbored. But he tries not to dwell on it much, because there’s no point. They’re here to have fun. They’re here on a date. _Hunk and Allura are on a date,_ he reminds himself. **_Not_** _you and Keith._

 

“So, Hunk and I were thinking,” Allura begins, and then Hunk continues, “Since it’s almost sunset, I feel like we should do the Ferris Wheel together. It looks over the entire coastline, and the view would be phenomenal!”

 

“And it would be extremely romantic,” Allura gushes, clapping her hands together and looking at Keith and Lance expectantly.

 

Keith and Lance exchange glances, shrug. Why not?

 

~

 

There’s a bit of a wait when they get to the Ferris Wheel, but Lance doesn’t mind waiting. Keith is starting to get a little antsy and fidgety though, and Lance realizes this has been the longest Keith has stayed out and socialized, and the crowd is probably not making things easy on him. It’s not that Keith can’t socialize, he can if he has to, it’s just that Lance has always been the big crowd guy, and Keith likes intimate settings better.

 

“You okay?” Lance asks quietly. There’s still some time before it’ll be their turn. It’s going to be another ride cycle before that happens. “We can leave if you want.”

 

Keith shakes his head at that. “I’m fine,” he says. “Just tired.”

 

“Crowd’s too much?”

 

Keith shrugs.

 

“You want me to get you something? Water? Soda?” Lance pushes.

 

“Lance,” Keith interjects, looking highly amused at his friend’s apparent concern, “I’m fine. I promise.”

 

“Fine,” Lance grumbles, stretching his arms out. “Let me hold on to the plushies at least.”

 

“Uh, actually,” Keith hesitates, “I kinda like holding on to them? They’re soft and comfortable.” The last part is mostly a mumble, but Lance catches it anyway.

 

And maybe the Lance of about a year ago would have made fun of Keith for it, but present Lance, the Lance who’s most certainly _in love_ with Keith, just finds it endearing. He smiles softly and has to physically restrain himself from kissing Keith’s forehead, but then he realizes Hunk and Allura are right here, which means he technically _can_ do that, and Keith did say he’d be okay with that, but then the line moves forward, and that means Keith moves forward, and the moment’s gone.

 

It takes another fifteen minutes before they get to the front of the line. Keith and Lance go into one passenger car, and Hunk and Allura go into the one after theirs. They wait till everyone’s seated, and then the ride starts. The sky’s starting to darken, and as they move, Lance can see the city lit up, and it’s beautiful. Hunk and Allura are in the car right below them, and Lance can see them snuggling close to each other, talking about anything and everything, just having a fun time. Lance brings his attention back to himself and Keith, and how quiet they are in comparison.

 

Unwittingly, Lance is reminded of Allura’s earlier statement. He isn’t really thinking when he says, “Hey, Keith?”

 

Keith, who’d been looking out at the city, turns to look at Lance. “Yeah?”

 

“We’re friends, right?” Lance asks, and he knows that’s an incredibly stupid question to be asking, because of course they are, but Lance also doesn’t quite know how to get to the real problem, so he’s going to just go with the flow.

 

“Uh.” Keith looks confused. “Yeah? I don’t agree to go on fake dates with strangers, Lance.”

 

“No, that’s not what I—,” Lance starts, but then cuts himself off. Sighing, he says, “Never mind.”

 

Keith continues looking at him, frowning now. “Lance,” He says meaningfully. Lance knows that tone. It’s Keith’s ‘cut the crap and tell me what’s wrong’ tone.

 

“It’s nothing,” Lance says, and then before Keith can push it further, he slouches in his seat and rests his head on Keith’s shoulder. He feels Keith stiffen momentarily, but that’s mostly out of surprise, Lance knows, because a moment later, he relaxes.

  
“I’d put my arm around you if it weren’t otherwise occupied,” Keith assures softly, and Lance can’t help but snort at that. Whoever said Keith didn’t have a sense of humor was a dumbass. Oh wait, it was Lance from the past. Lance from the past was that dumbass.

 

The Ferris Wheel stops moving once they’re at the top, and it stays that way for a few moments. Lance closes his eyes briefly, absorbing the moment. If this were a real date, this would be the moment he and Keith would share their first kiss. His eyes open, and he looks down at Hunk and Allura. And lo and behold, he sees Hunk and Allura leaning closer, closer till their lips meet, and they’re kissing. It’s soft, and tender, and everything Lance wishes his first kiss to be. It’s the perfect first kiss.

 

Lance averts his gaze, but stupidly tilts his face up to look at Keith instead, and it’s stupid because Keith’s looking down at him, and his face is so close, and it’s so ridiculously intimate, and if Lance tilted his face further up, his lips would be brushing Keith’s and he’s not sure if that’s a good or bad thing, because on the one hand, he’d be sharing his first kiss with Keith, but on the other hand, it wouldn’t be real. It would be all for show.

 

The Ferris Wheel jerks into motion once more, and Lance knows the moment’s gone, _again_ , and so he tilts his face down, burying his face into Keith’s shoulder instead. He thinks he feels the brush of lips against his hair, but then again, it’s probably just wishful thinking.

 

-x-

 

“Today was a lot of fun,” Allura says happily. “I got to go on a fun double date _and_ got a boyfriend out of it!” She punctuates this by looping her arm around Hunk’s and leaning her head against his shoulder. To Hunk, she says, “Thank you, Hunk.”

 

Hunk smiles down at her softly, and then, when Allura isn’t looking, Hunk quickly mouths a ‘thank you’ to Lance and Keith. Lance winks and Keith smiles like it was no trouble.

 

“We had a good time, too,” Keith says, and Lance looks at him in surprise. Lance is usually the one to take the reins when it comes to niceties, but hey, he isn’t gonna complain if Keith wants to do it today.

 

“We should get going,” Allura says, pulling her phone out and checking the time. “Hunk and I have to be up early tomorrow.”

 

At Lance and Keith’s clueless looks, Hunk elaborates: “The teaching program? For the underprivileged kids? We have to help plan the lessons and activities for the upcoming week.”

 

Right, because Hunk and Allura are literally saints and Lance honestly loves them. Judging by Keith’s expression, he agrees with Lance.

 

“We should get going too,” Keith says, then looks at Lance pointedly. “You didn’t carry a jacket.”

 

“I know, Captain Obvious,” Lance retorts, because falling into easy banter with Keith is literally second nature to him. “I was there.”

 

Keith scowls. “I just meant, the temperature’s dropping, and it’s colder on the back of a motorcycle.” A beat, as this dawns on Lance. “You didn’t think about that, did you?”

 

“I’ll be fine,” Lance says dismissively. “It’s not that chilly.”

 

“You think seventy degrees is cold, Lance,” Keith points out.

 

“I—"

 

“Clearly you two could keep going all night,” Allura laughs, effectively cutting the argument short, “But Hunk and I really do have to get going.” She strides forward and gives each them a quick, goodbye hug. Hunk follows to do the same. They bid their goodbyes, and then Hunk and Allura are off, hand in hand, looking like the perfect couple.

 

Keith and Lance stand there a beat longer, watching their friends walk further and further away from them, until they’re entirely out of view.

 

“Here,” Keith says, and Lance realizes Keith is handing the two plushies over to him. Lance takes it without question, and then watches, somewhat wide-eyed, when Keith takes his jacket off and drapes it over Lance’s shoulders. He then asks for the plushies back. Lance wordlessly does so.

 

“Uh,” he says.

 

“Put it on, idiot,” Keith says, and then quickly turns around and starts striding towards where he’s parked the motorcycle. Lance puts the jacket on properly and marvels at the fact that he’s basically wearing Keith’s jacket. Holy shit. He hurriedly follows after Keith. Once he’s caught up to him, Lance casually loops his arm around Keith’s, pulling him to a stop. Keith looks at him questioningly.

 

“Can we go to the beach?” Lance asks.

 

“Right now?”

 

“Yeah,” Lance nods. “I just, kinda wanted to, you know…”

 

“Doesn’t it close soon?” Keith asks, and Lance pulls his phone out to check the time.

 

“It’s open for another hour,” Lance says, looking at Keith expectantly. “So? Can we?”

 

Keith shrugs. “Sure, but let me put these,” he gestures at the plushies in his arms, “In my bike. Like hell I’m gonna carry them around the beach.”

 

“Sounds fair,” Lance says, grinning.

 

-x-

 

Once they store the plushies in the motorcycle, they set off on the short walk to the beach. It makes no sense trying to ride the bike there, because parking is a bitch, and it’s not like it’s a long walk, anyway. At most, it’s maybe ten minutes.

 

The beach is mostly empty by the time they get there, which makes sense, considering prime time beach visits happen during the day, not once the sun’s down. But Lance thinks the beach has its own charm at night. The water is a dark gray, and it looks somewhat threatening and intimidating, but once you step foot in the water, it’s like a wave of calm settles over you. Besides, Lance has never really felt threatened by the water. He’s always felt one with it, like they’re one and the same.

 

He excitedly takes his shoes and socks off, rolls his jeans up and steps into the water.  Keith warns him to be careful, to not go too far in, because who knows when the tide’s supposed to turn, and Lance, instead of finding the concern annoying, lets it settle over him like a blanket of warmth in the, admittedly, chilly weather. So maybe he’s thankful that Keith offered him his jacket.

 

He gestures for Keith to join him, but Keith shakes his head, content with standing further away from the water. Lance doesn’t understand the point of that, but he won’t force Keith, either. He just continues enjoying the water gently lapping at his feet, and takes one step further in, when Keith warningly calls out, “Lance!”

 

“I’m right here, Mullet!” Lance calls back but doesn’t move another step further. Stays where he is.

 

He stays like that for who knows how long, when he feels it. A droplet on his face. Then another. And another. And just like that, it’s raining. “Clichés to end all clichés,” Lance mutters, looking up at the sky, letting the raindrops kiss his skin. Still, he can’t help but smile, as he twirls around in the rain, because it’s not like there’s anyone but Keith around, and Lance has done far more embarrassing things in front of Keith, so twirling around in the rain barely counts. He also jumps a little, splashing water around, and then closes his eyes and soaks up the rain.

 

In the back of his mind, he knows he’s probably ruining Keith’s precious leather jacket, but Keith hasn’t voiced any sort of complaints yet, so Lance thinks he’s fine for now. Lance isn’t even sure what Keith’s doing. He can’t fathom Keith enjoying getting drenched in the rain, but when Lance turns around, he freezes in place.

 

Because Keith’s standing closer than he was minutes ago, and there’s this _look_ on his face. A look that Lance doesn’t let himself believe is real. But then Keith takes a step closer, and there’s no mistaking it. It’s a look of awe, of fondness, of _desire._ Keith takes another step closer, and Lance remains perfectly still. Keith pauses, eyes searching for something. Lance doesn’t know what he’s looking for, all he knows is that he wants Keith to come closer, wants him to bridge that gap, just wants _Keith_. And maybe his face shows that, because Keith’s moving once more, until he’s right in front of Lance. Hardly any space between them.

 

Slowly, carefully, Lance reaches his hand out, and brushes Keith’s wet bangs from his face. “You look ridiculous,” he whispers. “Do you even like the rain?”

 

Keith says nothing, just stares at Lance, unwavering. Lance swallows thickly, unable to look away. Keith tentatively raises one hand and gently cups Lance’s cheek. Lance closes his eyes at the contact, simply lets himself _feel_. Feels Keith’s hand sliding further, fingers weaving into his hair, and gently tugging. Tugging his head down, and Lance's heart is thumping loudly now, because he knows what’s about to happen, and he’s nervous, but god does he want it. Hasn’t wanted anything so desperately before.

 

“Lance,” Keith whispers, lips almost brushing his, their faces are so close.

 

And then he feels the gentle press of lips against his, and it’s the most beautiful feeling in the world. It’s barely a kiss, just Keith’s slightly chapped lips pressing against his, not moving. But it still sets Lance’s heart racing, and causes goosebumps to erupt on his skin, his entire body tingling. They stay like that for a few moments, and then Lance tentatively moves his lips, and he’s not sure if that’s what he’s supposed to do, considering it’s his first time kissing someone, _kissing_ _Keith_ , his mind supplies helpfully, and he just does what feels natural. Keith follows his lead and moves with him. It’s still chaste, and a little wet, but that’s on the rain, that’s steadily pouring down on them now. Despite Keith’s jacket, Lance still finds himself shivering a little, but he doesn’t want to end the kiss, and so, instead of pulling away, he pushes himself closer to Keith, arms wrapping around his waist and holding on tight. Keith runs slightly warm, and Lance is grateful. Because now he gets to soak in Keith’s warmth, and continue kissing him. Win-win, honestly.

 

Lance isn’t sure how long their kiss lasts, but eventually, Keith pulls away. He doesn’t move away, though. Their faces are still extremely close, and Lance can feel Keith’s breath on his lips, and he’s sure Keith can feel his on his lips, and it’s just. This isn’t how Lance had expected the day to turn out, not in his wildest dreams. He finds himself smiling softly, as he whispers, “Why did you do that?”

 

Keith licks his lips, and Lance finds himself tracking the motion with his eyes. Then Keith says, uncertainly, “Dunno. Just felt like something I should do…” 

 

And that’s _not_ what Lance was hoping he’d say. Not at all. “Oh,” He says, slowly stepping out of Keith’s space, trying not to frown. “That’s. Oh.” He runs his fingers through his hair, and he knows his hair’s a mess right now, but he suddenly doesn’t care. His chest feels heavy, and the rain doesn’t feel quite as pleasant anymore. Keith’s brows are furrowed, and he’s frowning, and it looks like he’s about to say something, so Lance cuts him off. “We should get going. I’m kinda cold.”

 

And that’s all it takes, and then Keith’s nodding and Lance puts his shoes back on and rolls his jeans back down. He’s really cold, and he can’t even imagine how cold Keith’s right now, but Keith looks unaffected. Lance could cuddle up to Keith, but he doesn’t want to. Instead, he crosses his arms and braves through the chilliness that’s settled into his bones, as they make their silent, somewhat awkward walk to the bike. 

 

-x-

 

The entirety of the bike ride passes in silence. Lance doesn’t feel like talking and Keith’s probably not sure what he did wrong, and he’s just giving Lance his space. Where before there was nothing but comfort and ease between the two, there’s now a tense and heavy silence. An awkwardness that shouldn’t exist, not between them. Not after the near perfect day they’d had.

 

Keith pulls up to Lance’s apartment building, killing the engine. They still remain seated. Lance makes no move to get up. He just, he needs a minute.

 

“Lance?” Keith asks softly.

 

“Yeah, sorry,” Lance says, moving to get off the bike, but Keith holds onto his hand firmly. The message is clear. He wants Lance to remain seated. Lance isn’t sure why.

 

In one quick motion, Keith takes his helmet off, and if it were any other situation, Lance would be laughing at Keith’s hair, but as it stands, Lance isn’t quite in the mood for it. Keith turns around to look at Lance, waiting expectantly. Lance takes his helmet off, too, and hands it over to Keith. Keith hangs both helmets by the handle bar.

 

A beat. Then Keith says, “Is everything okay?”

 

And Lance blurts out, “That was my first kiss.”

 

Silence. Keith probably needs to process that. Instead of the apology Lance is more than expecting, Keith surprises him by saying, “Mine, too.”

 

“Wait, really?” Lance asks.

 

Keith snorts and then gets off the bike, so he can face Lance directly. Lance remains seated but turns his body around to better face Keith. “What’s wrong, Lance?” Keith asks, stepping closer.

 

“Nothing’s wrong,” Lance says. “Everything’s fine.”

 

“Did you,” Keith begins, hesitates, then continues, “Did you not want me to kiss you?”

 

And how the hell does Lance answer that, honestly? “No, I mean, yes, I just…”

 

“You just?”

 

“I wanted you to kiss me,” Lance finally admits. Might as well come clean. Save himself the future heartbreak.

 

“Then why were you all sad?” Keith asks. “What did I do wrong?”

 

“I was sad because it wasn’t real, Keith!” Lance snaps. Keith flinches at the tone, so Lance quickly adds, softer, “I wanted it to be real.”

 

Keith remains silent at that, and Lance knows he fucked up. This is where it all ends. Keith’s going to reject him, say he doesn’t feel the same way, and then their friendship is going to be all awkward, and their friend group’s going to suffer because Lance had to go and fall for Keith! This is such a mess.

 

“Who says it wasn’t?” Keith finally says, breaking the silence.

 

Lance stares at him in confusion. What the hell does that mean? “Keith,” Lance says slowly, “This whole thing was fake. A set up. None of it was real.”

 

“Remember what you told me, when I didn’t think we could pull this off?” Keith asks instead.

 

Lance nods, still not comprehending. “I told you to pretend I’m someone you wish you were dating.”

 

“You also told me to be myself,” Keith adds, smiling slightly.

 

And honestly, Lance wishes he could say he understands what Keith’s getting at, but the truth is, Lance is still just as clueless. “I still don’t understand.”

 

“I like you, Lance,” Keith says finally. “Nothing about today was pretend. It was all real.”

 

And Lance, he’s still stuck on—

 

“You like me?”

 

Keith nods. “I do.”

 

“For real?”

 

Keith nods again.

 

“Why?”

 

And that gives Keith pause. He frowns at Lance. “What do you mean by ‘why’?”

 

“It’s just,” Lance says, averting his gaze. “Do you think we’d be good together, romantically, I mean? We haven’t exactly had an easy relationship. We always fight, and we’re not like Hunk and Allura, who’re literally the definition of a perfect couple.”

 

“I…” Keith trails off, at a loss. “I don’t think we should compare ourselves to them.”

 

“But—,”

 

“No,” Keith cuts him off, determined to prove Lance wrong. “We’re friends, Lance. We’re really great friends. You understand me. Like, at the park today. It meant a lot to me, you looking out for me like that. And I like to think I understand you, too. It took us a while to get there, but we got there, Lance. I just, we’re, well. We’re always going to be us. But we also care about each other. A lot.”

 

“But think about what Allura said! We’re always competing, over the dumbest shit, and we argue, and sure, we’re friends now, but what if we’re not someday? What if we mess this up? What if our default is always going to be whatever we were before? What if you decide I’m annoying after all, and you can’t put up with me anymore? I’m not exactly an easy person to be with.”

 

“Lance,” Keith says, calmly, patiently, and it’s so unlike the Keith he’s used to, “I had no friends when we first met, do you remember that?”

 

Lance nods.

 

“You,” Keith continues, voice soft, “You helped me, Lance. Even when you were being your obnoxious, competitive self, you helped me.  You helped me be a part of something, made me feel like I belonged.”  

 

“I started a rivalry with you, Keith,” Lance points out.

 

“Yeah, which led to me getting involved with your circle of friends, and led to us becoming friends,” Keith counters easily. “Best friends, even.” A beat. “At least, that’s what you said we were.”

 

“We are,” Lance insists. He’s at a loss for words, because now that Keith puts it that way, Lance doesn’t see where they were, but rather, where they are now.

 

“And,” Keith adds, because apparently Keith isn’t done reassuring Lance, and why does that make Lance feel like the strongest person in the universe all of a sudden? “I _like_ competing over stupid shit with you. You know why?”

 

“Why?”

 

Keith smiles. “Because you look cute when you lose.”

 

“What?” Lance sputters, suddenly annoyed. “I win, too, Keith!”

 

Keith nods easily. “And you look cute then, too.”

 

And wow, since when has Keith been this smooth? Honestly, how did Lance miss that about him? “I guess you have a point,” Lance concedes finally. “I’m sorry, it’s just, I don’t know, I’ve been overthinking this entire thing, because I like you, Keith. I like you so damn much.”

 

“And I like you, too,” Keith says quietly. “A lot, actually.”

 

Lance doesn’t know what to say to that, because really, what else is left to say? Why does it still feel like something’s amiss, not quite in place?

 

Keith, bless him, continues, to the best of his ability. “Do you think you’re going to stop caring about me?” He asks bluntly.

 

Lance looks incredibly offended when he says, “What? No!”

 

“Me neither,” Keith says. “So, what are you worried about?”

 

“I’m not sure,” Lance admits, shoulders slouching in resignation. “I guess I just assumed every perfect relationship looks like the one Hunk and Allura have.”

 

“That’s stupid,” Keith says. “We’re not Hunk and Allura.”

 

“I know,” Lance says, lips twitching. “We’re Keith and Lance.”

 

“Yeah,” Keith smiles, hands cupping Lance’s cheeks gently. “We are.”

 

“We’ll make this work,” Lance whispers, “Right?”

 

“We started out not liking each other, and now we’re here. What do you think, Lance?” Keith replies, and Lance would resent the sarcastic tone, if it weren’t for the steady reassurance the words bring to him. Finally, _finally_ , things settle into place. Keith’s right. They _will_ make this work.

 

“Fine,” he mumbles, “Kiss me, jackass.”

 

Keith is more than happy to oblige.

 

-x-

 

“So, you two weren’t dating yesterday?” Allura asks blankly.

 

Keith and Lance shake their head.

 

“But you are today?”

 

Keith and Lance nod.

 

Allura sighs, exasperated, and looks at Hunk and Pidge helplessly.  They’re currently at the café, claiming a booth at the far end.

 

Once Keith and Lance had finished making out on the bike, Lance had ended up forcing Keith to stay the night. Not for any funny business, mind you, because it was still far too soon for them, but because Lance just really wanted to spend more time with Keith. Cuddle with Keith. Make out with Keith some more. And then they’d ended up having the “what are we” talk, and decided to just go ahead and call each other boyfriends, because honestly, who were they kidding? And that had led to the realization that they would need to come clean to their friends about this whole thing, to which Lance had said, “How does it matter? We’re boyfriends now, so technically it wasn’t entirely a lie!” And Keith had said, “We should be honest, Lance.” And Lance had grumbled something to the effect of “Fine, Mr. Honest Pants,” and Keith had snorted at that and then there wasn’t a lot of talking happening for the rest of the night.

 

And now they’re here, in front of their friends, confessing to their crimes. Lance still thinks they didn’t need to, but Keith’s weirdly insistent on it, so Lance will give him this. Besides, now he finally has an interesting, real story about how he and Keith started dating.

 

“So, let me get this straight,” Pidge says, and Lance and Keith both snort at that, and Pidge just ends up rolling her eyes, “You two pretended to be dating, but now you’re _really_ dating?”

 

Keith and Lance nod.

 

“Just one question,” Pidge says then, narrowing her eyes, “Why didn’t I know you two were dating at all?”

 

Lance and Keith exchange glances. “We,” Lance says, “We didn’t think it was important.”

 

“It wasn’t important,” Pidge repeats. “Because two of my friends in my friend circle are dating, and it’s not important that I know about it.”

 

“It’s not like we were really dating, Pidge!” Lance exclaims. “It was fake anyway.”

 

“Hunk and Allura didn’t know it was fake!” Pidge counters. “Look, I just figured you’d tell me, okay?”

 

“We are now,” Keith offers helpfully.

 

“Yeah, yeah,” Pidge grumbles but then a beat later, she smiles. “Congratulations, though.”

 

“Wait so,” Hunk says, “Why did you lie in the first place?”

 

“Hunk,” Lance says, deadpan, “You literally would not have asked Allura out if I hadn’t lied.”

 

Allura looks surprised at that. She turns to Hunk. “Why not?”

 

“I thought Lance still liked you,” Hunk says, blushing. This causes both Lance and Allura to snort in unison.

 

“Oh, Hunk,” Allura says sweetly, “You are such a good friend!”

 

Hunk blushes even more. Lance finds it adorable. He then glances at Keith, who’s smiling softly, and Lance is in love. Almost as if sensing Lance’s gaze on him, Keith turns to look at him. He raises a brow in question, and Lance just shakes his head, smiling. “Nothing,” he says softly, just for Keith’s ears, “I just really like you.”

 

Keith smiles back, boldly reaching out to take Lance’s hand in his own, lacing their fingers together. “I like you, too.”

 

And for now, that’s enough.

* * *

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> two things: I firmly believe Keith would be great at darts because he's excellent at throwing his knife with deadly accuracy, and aiming with a gun and aiming with your hand are two entirely different things. So, Keith is a pro at darts, but sucks at rifle shooting. Lance is a pro at rifle shooting, but sucks at darts.
> 
> Second, I don't like pineapple on pizza, but if the girl I had a crush on liked pineapple on pizza, I'd eat all the pineapple pizza in the world for her. And since I live to project on Lance, that's what I did here, too.
> 
> Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed it. Feedback is more than appreciated! You can find me at @biconiclance on twitter, and biconlance on tumblr!


End file.
